Business comment

High Street rivals are Green with envy Britain has a new entrepreneur-hero, if last week's business media was anything to go by. Philip Green, the retailer credited with making £1 billion from plain old Bhs in just a couple of years, was fêted by the press, with acres of laudatory coverage (including - a real badge of honour - a congratulatory leader in the Sun) and even an interview on the BBC. Move over Branson, Sugar and Roddick - make space for Green.

He deserves some credit. A natural-born retailer, he had the guts to back his intuition on Bhs and the skill and dedication to push through a programme that transformed dowdy British Home Stores into an outfit capable of making a profit of more than £90 million. No mean achievement, especially set against the background of a hostile business establishment that snootily regarded him as 'not quite one of us'.

But some words of caution. First, it will be much harder to do it this year. Retail analysts believe the spending boom will peter out by spring and, with Bhs run much more efficiently from top to bottom, Green will find it hard to work the miracle again. If he is considering a sale or flotation, the sooner he does it the better.

Second, Green should not think his new love affair with the press will last. He has made plenty of enemies in his time, and they will find any skeletons there may be out there. Green should enjoy it while it lasts.

Hold them to account The scandal unravelling at Andersen, one of the Big Five firms, defies belief. We are told that staff in the US shredded documents relating to Enron, the failed American energy company, which was audited by Andersen. Clearly, that stinks.

Only now are we beginning to understand the scale of mismanagement at Enron, where Andersen signed off accounts that later had to be restated. We will know soon enough whether there will be criminal prosecutions. But let's be clear about one thing: Andersen's most senior managers are ultimately accountable here. No matter how many people are fired or stripped of their responsibilities lower down the firm, the buck stops at the top.

If Andersen were a quoted company, shareholders would be demanding that heads roll in the boardroom. Chief executive Joseph Berardino would find himself under immense pressure. As it is, Andersen's future is under a cloud. With a swathe of lawsuits waiting around the corner, the firm may be forced to merge or risk the prospect of penalties that could financially cripple the partnership.

But Andersen is not alone in bringing the profession into disrepute. KPMG was censured by US regulators last week for being a significant investor in an investment fund, while also being its auditor.

All this raises the vexed question of whether self-regulation of the accountancy profession really works. If the events of the past few weeks are anything to go by, the answer is no.

Accountants have a privileged position in corporate life and cannot afford to appear greedy. But that's how it looks on recent evidence. Shame on them.

Bank on Marconi John Mayo, the ousted finance director of cash-strapped Marconi, can whinge on all he likes about how things could have been different if only the company had done things his way. But, quite frankly, it is all irrelevant now.

The issue today is whether Marconi will survive the year or end up in the knacker's yard. That is anyone's guess. But if the rumours are right, this Government is going to do all it can to make sure that Marconi survives intact, or at least until chairman Derek Bonham can rustle up a buyer for all or parts of the business.

We hear that the Bank of England has been quietly leaning on the company's lenders to keep Marconi afloat. The tale has a ring of truth. After all, it is Marconi's banks which will make the decision to declare the company insolvent - or not. If Ministers wanted to make sure their message is being conveyed to the likes of Barclays and HSBC - Marconi's principal lenders - would it not make sense to use the bank as a conduit?

The group remains a going concern in large part because it is able to use a huge undrawn €3bn overdraft facility, but this can only be tapped up to May. If things get really sticky for Bonham, however, the banks could refuse to allow Marconi to draw down more funds.

That, clearly, is the worst-case scenario. While there are still hopes that the green shoots of recovery will appear in the second half of the year, the Bank of England's behind-the-scenes lobbying will continue. But for how long?

We give a fair share Another Sunday newspaper last week woke up to the pitfalls of share-tipping, and promised to give its readers more rigour and transparency before the command: 'fill your boots'.

We have been of that opinion for some time, which is why we don't give share tips, but offer investment analysis instead. Except, that is, on one occasion each year - the New Year writers' share recommendations.

This hallowed tradition is a harmless bit of fun; it will probably never make readers a fortune, but it shouldn't lose them one either. It also forces journalists at least once a year to have the courage of their convictions, while not exactly putting their money where their mouth is.

In future, however, we will be joining in the spirit of investment glasnost by publishing a weekly progress report on our portfolio, warts and all, with the FTSE All-share as a comparison.

The first appears today with Throg Street on page 6, and shows a creditable performance, especially after the terrible start Vodafone shares have had.